Brooks Secondary School’s graduation ceremony for students has been planned for June 28 in the Max Cameron Theatre.
At the June 9 School District 47 board of education meeting, Brooks principal Bill Rounis highlighted the activities of the day, which will be designed to comply with COVID-19 safety protocols.
Rounis said what will happen for the students is they will make their way across the stage in the theatre, where they will be recognized and presented their certificates.
“Some of the key features, according to the provincial health authority, is that graduates are allowed four guests,” said Rounis. “It’s very similar to how we designed it last year. Last year we had it where we ran four groups through 10 minutes, so we had four zones.
“We do take time to have a conversation on the stage and take photos and also present the students with any recognition that they receive, such as scholarships.”
Rounis said the school learned from its first COVID-19 graduation last year and has been able to streamline the process. The graduation ceremony will run from 10 am to 6 pm and will be carried out on one day instead of over two. There are 172 spots available for students to sign up and as of June 9, there were 128 students from the school district who had signed up.
The ceremony will be livestreamed so everyone will be able to watch the ceremony. A schedule will be posted of when students are to cross the stage so people can tune in to watch at a specific time. Messages from dignitaries and all other graduate speeches will be pre-recorded and posted to the Brooks YouTube channel.
Students will be dressed in cap and gown for the ceremony.
“We’re pretty excited about the prospect of it being over one day instead of two and that it’s happening at Max Cameron Theatre,” said Rounis. “It’s happening on our school site so we know people can make it here. If there is a need for wheelchair access, we’ve got it covered.”
This year, the schedule is to have five graduates per 10 minutes, with a 10-minute break per hour.
Rounis said there will again be a graduate parade, which will be coordinated by the dry grad committee on June 26.
